Gold and other metallic amalgam



llaiirnn STATES P TENT Orrrce,

SOLOMON P. BUATT, OF BASTROP, LOUISIANA.

GOLD AND OTHER METALLIC AMALGAM.

QPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 324,650, dated August18, 1885.

Application liled October 22, 1884. (X0 specimens.)

T0 aZZ whom, it may concern:

Be it known that I, SOLOMON P. BUlrrr, of Bastrop, in the parish of Morehouse and State of Louisiana, have discovered certain new and usefulImprovements in Gold and other Metallic Amalgams, of which the followingis a full, clear, and exact description.

This discovery relates to gold and other amalgams suitable for dentalfillings and other purposes, and comprises a novel process,substantially as hereinafter described, whereby pure gold or anycombination of metallic gold with silver, or pure silver, may be reducedto a plastic mass with mercury and a crystallized solid be obtainedwhich is free from all excess of atom equivalents of mercury, chemicalimpurities or metallic oxides inj urious to health, and which shallretain the original shade or color and other desirable qualities of thegold or precious metal.

I take, for instance, gold and reduce the same by any appropriate meansinto a powder or fine particles, and amalgamate with mercury; or takegold alloyed or combined in any manner with metallic silver or puresilver, and after reducing the same to fine particles incorporate itwith a mercurial solution of gold instead'of pure mercury, or otherwiseapply the same to produce a like result, and to'an extent that willrender the above -named metallic particles adherent. Either or any ofthese masses are then placed in a mortar, together with saturatedsolution of sulphurous-acid gas in water, and the mass thoroughlytriturated with a pestle, adding chalk until all excess of mercury isabsorbed, and subsequently washing the mass with water. Alcohol is thenadded in sufficient quantity to cover the mass, and the whole rubbedwith the pestle until the mass becomes plastic, when it is again washedwith water and ready for application to the purpose for which theamalgam is intended, and when the mass has been molded into the desiredform and set, it is burnished with aburnishing-tool until the color ofthe precious metal appears on its surface. By this process of combininggold, gold alloy, or silver and mercury with sulphur, chalk, andalcohol, in the manner described,the elimination of all free mercury, orexcess of its atom equivalents, is augment.-

ed, and the same remain associated as a deli nitely-proportionedchemical compound, and

when quiescent speedily crystallizeinto a solid with the metal goldpredominant in color, when by friction the surface is condensed and themercurial equivalents set free by the action of the latent heat duringthe operation. Technically detailed, the sulphur dissolves theunassociated mercury, and while in this condition the chalkcombines withit, the wa ter holds the combination in suspension and conveys it fromthe mass by decantat-ion, while the alcohol facilitates crystallization.

For dental purposes the amalgam has many advantages. Thus, it combinesall the desirable properties of gold with those of amalgams aspreservative plastic dental fillings, while free from the objectionablepeculiarities of both. By its use, in fact, there will be no necessityof extracting even a crownless dental root, excepting for the cure ofspecial diseases peculiar to the mouth, which renders it greatlysuperior to other materials used by dentists for a like purpose, whileit is equally beneficial to both patient and operator, economizing timeby the simplicity and ease of its application, dispensing with themallet, rubber dam, and other pain-producing instruments, such as usedfor inserting solid-metal dental fillings, and in nowise exposing thesystem to the danger of mercurial action, as other mercurial amalgamsare liable to do, and from which heat, even if raised to a volatilizingpoint, will not expel the deleterious properties without rendering themass porous or disintegrating it.

Having thus described my discovery, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. The process, herein described, of producing theamalgam, which consists in first reducing into line particles the gold,gold alloyed with metallic silver or pure silver, and amalgamating orincorporating the same with mercury or with a mercurial solution ofgold, or otherwise applying the same to produce a like result, accordingto the nature of the base, then adding a saturated solution ofsulphurous-acid gas in water and triturating the mass, also adding chalkthereto to absorb all excess of mercury, then washing with water,afterward adding alcohol to the mass and rubhing until the Whole isplastic, and subsea plastic mass, for use essentially as herein quentlywashing the mass,which is then ready set forth. for nse,t0 be molded orset and burnished, as required, substantially as specified.

2. The Within-described amalgam, in which. \Vitnesses: gold or gold andsilver are combined with I FRANK VAUGHAN, mercury, sulphur, and chalk,and Worked into 1 WV; E. STARSMY.

SOLOMON P. BUATT.

